CITIZENS CAN NOW obtain through the Internet as many as 65 per cent of those public services that are amenable to electronic delivery, according to official estimates. And plans are afoot to boost the figure to 90 per cent in two years. These statistics are buried in the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau's latest progress report, which supplemented the Chief Executive's Policy Address last Wednesday.
Although officials are apparently pleased with their achievements in e-government, many of the Internet-savvy in the SAR do not find these options as advanced and user-friendly as they should be.
The Government's Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) scheme made its debut last December. And the bureau is pledging to 'introduce new public services under the ESD scheme this year - such as booking marriage dates, purchasing government publications, booking sports and leisure facilities, registering to sit for public examinations, etc. - so as to provide more government services online'.
But Singapore's 'e-Citizen Centre', launched in 1997, has already been providing such services and much more. In its 'Health Town', for instance, patients can book appointments with a dentist or a doctor. They can even register online for admission at the Singapore General Hospital. By comparison, our medical institutions' presence on the Internet remains largely nominal.
Convenience aside, the architects of the Singapore platform also impress visitors as being more thoughtful. Images of the Lion City, both new and old, are available in the form of e-cards for anyone who wants to send one. Speeches and news releases from the Prime Minister's Office and other ministries can be subscribed to by e-mail. Those who need to follow a particular policy area more closely do not need to keep scanning the official portal for the latest developments. Instead, the materials will be delivered to their electronic mail boxes as soon as they are available. The gov.hk Web site offers nothing like this.
The capability to do real-time transactions online is another measure of an electronic delivery system's level of sophistication.